Who knew Juliet Capulet had a sister??? Anne Fortier has a lot of fun in this novel, showing off her ability to write complicated plots and her intimate familiarity with Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. I’m not sure this is as much fun for the reader, however.
I did enjoy the novel. While not great literature, it entertained me. I loved the Siena backdrop. Having visited Siena several times during a recent trip to Italy, and having had the Palio explained to me by my sister and brother-in-law, I could easily picture the scenes as Fortier described them. According to the author’s notes at the end, originally this legend was placed in Siena, which interested me.
While I was happy just to go along for the ride, there was little about the plot that seemed realistic. I found it hard to believe that sisters with so much baggage between them would work together as Juliet and Janice did. Certainly they were placed in a situation that called for teamwork, but old feelings die hard. Same with Umberto. Oh, oops, he’s really their father and a gangster! They didn’t seem nearly as upset at learning this as I would expect in real life.
And then, the characters… Usually, what engages me (or not) about a book is its characters. It wasn’t so much that I didn’t like these characters as that I didn’t believe them. The relationship between Juliet and Janice didn’t ring true for me. Alessandro confused me throughout the book: bad guy or good guy? At the end, good guy, but there are some unexplained actions along the way. Same for Umberto, and even Aunt Rose. Fortier leaves a few too many loose ends, character-wise, for my taste.
Ultimately, what entertained me about the book was the connection to Shakespeare’s play. I liked knowing where the quotes at the beginning of chapters came from in the play. It was a hint about what would happen in that chapter. I liked some of the questions asked about the original plot, especially the one around Friar Lawrence/Lorenzo. In the play, no one pays much attention to him after the deaths of the young lovers. In the novel, Juliet discovers that the Friar was in big trouble with the families, which seems likely to me. Because I’ve taught and seen the play many times, the obvious connections to Romeo and Juliet made the novel a worthwhile read.
So, my big question is this: If you’re not as familiar with Shakespeare’s play, did the novel work for you? Were the quotes and references interesting, helpful, or just confusing? And, if you do know the play well, did you enjoy the connections or were they a distraction?
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Okay...if this works I'll post something about the book.
ReplyDeleteHI Everyone, First of all thank you for including me in this club. I am looking forward to finding out about books that I normally may not know about and hearing others' thoughts on these books. Reading has always been a favorite passtime of mine, so I am happy to have one more opportunity to make it a part of my day.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I remember I have only seen the movie and the play of R and J. Having taken a few Shakespaere classes in college, I know that it would not be quite the same. Similarly, I have been to Siena, but only for one night so I didn't experience it other than to see what one would see coming and going on the train. I did find a website about this book that had many photos of the buildings that the author refers to in the novel.
I am not sure if I would say that I enjoyed this novel or not. I guess I would have to say that I enjoyed some aspects and did not enjoy others. Surprisingly, the part that I enjoyed the most was the part that initially annoyed me. At first, I did not like moving between the two stories and was not interested in the "original R and J" and just wanted to stick with the Julie and Janice story. As the book progressed I found that I was more interested in the "original R and J " story.
I did like all of Fortier's descriptions of Siena and I was impressed by all the research she must have done on the history of R and J. I think the way she integrated both of those elements created most of the depth in this story.
I had wanted to like or care about one or more of the characters and I kept expecting that to happen, but it just didn't. I wanted to tell Julie to get over the things that happened in the past and get on with her adult life. I think she complained so much that I didn't find myself buying the sisters working together so easily and quickly. I think the story that was told by Julie didn't really match how I would expect people with their history to behave.
When I voted to read this novel I had expectations for it, that I think may have set me up for some disappointment. I may have expected that it would be written with a little more complexity or sophistication in terms of character development and writing style . I do think the plot was complicated, but I think it was told like the author didn't expect the readers to be able to figure certain things out on their own. I wondered if so much was explained by Julie or Janice because the author wasn't able to reveal certain elements - such as Umberto's true identity - through events or other more difficult writing techniques. It seemed like Fortier had Julie expalin everything so that the book could end.
While it may sound like I didn't really like to novel, I did manage to finish it in under a week, so I obviously found it rewarding enough to spend a lot of my spare time with. I think if I had more knowledge of R and J or had more familiarity with Siena, I may have been able to relate to more of the story.
Thanks again for inviting me to join this book club. I am looking forward to reading everone's posts as well as finding out the choices for the next book.
HI Everyone, First of all thank you for including me in this club. I am looking forward to finding out about books that I normally may not know about and hearing others' thoughts on these books. Reading has always been a favorite passtime of mine, so I am happy to have one more opportunity to make it a part of my day.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I remember I have only seen the movie and the play of R and J. Having taken a few Shakespaere classes in college, I know that it would not be quite the same. Similarly, I have been to Siena, but only for one night so I didn't experience it other than to see what one would see coming and going on the train. I did find a website about this book that had many photos of the buildings that the author refers to in the novel.
I am not sure if I would say that I enjoyed this novel or not. I guess I would have to say that I enjoyed some aspects and did not enjoy others. Surprisingly, the part that I enjoyed the most was the part that initially annoyed me. At first, I did not like moving between the two stories and was not interested in the "original R and J" and just wanted to stick with the Julie and Janice story. As the book progressed I found that I was more interested in the "original R and J " story.
I did like all of Fortier's descriptions of Siena and I was impressed by all the research she must have done on the history of R and J. I think the way she integrated both of those elements created most of the depth in this story.
I had wanted to like or care about one or more of the characters and I kept expecting that to happen, but it just didn't. I wanted to tell Julie to get over the things that happened in the past and get on with her adult life. I think she complained so much that I didn't find myself buying the sisters working together so easily and quickly. I think the story that was told by Julie didn't really match how I would expect people with their history to behave.
When I voted to read this novel I had expectations for it, that I think may have set me up for some disappointment. I may have expected that it would be written with a little more complexity or sophistication in terms of character development and writing style . I do think the plot was complicated, but I think it was told like the author didn't expect the readers to be able to figure certain things out on their own. I wondered if so much was explained by Julie or Janice because the author wasn't able to reveal certain elements - such as Umberto's true identity - through events or other more difficult writing techniques. It seemed like Fortier had Julie expalin everything so that the book could end.
While it may sound like I didn't really like to novel, I did manage to finish it in under a week, so I obviously found it rewarding enough to spend a lot of my spare time with. I think if I had more knowledge of R and J or had more familiarity with Siena, I may have been able to relate to more of the story.
Thanks again for inviting me to join this book club. I am looking forward to reading everone's posts as well as finding out the choices for the next book.
Ha ha...sorry....I am just learning how to do this.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading this book, I kept thinking that everyone else probably LOVES this book, and I’m the only one who has issues with it. Now I find out that at least a few of us have the same complaints.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest complaint was that, like Andrea, I just didn’t like a single one of the characters. None. Julie really did just seem like a whiner, and really, no one can be as bad as Janice. She was like a caricature of a wicked sister.
And then, we’re going along pretty well, and all of the sudden we learn that Umberto is a bad guy. Really? Really? For 25 years he hides this fact? And then we find out that not only is he a villain, but he is the twins’ father. Again, really? Really? And they are kind of like, “Huh, I didn’t know he was our father. Hey, want some more gelato?”
Alessandro was a complete puzzle to me, and I still don’t really understand why he had to be so secretive to Julie throughout the book. Oh, and of course, why did he have to wear Speedos in the swimming pool? And, more importantly, how could Julie possibly have thought he looked sexy in them? For some reason, him being Romeo caught me by surprise. I think I was too horrified by the Speedos.
Having said all of these negative things, I must admit that I don’t believe I have ever read Romeo and Juliet. Perhaps if I had, this story would have been more meaningful. The quotes at the beginning of the chapter would have been intriguing.
I absolutely loved the Siena setting. My husband and I spent a lot of time in Siena during our three-month European adventure, and it is probably my favorite Italian town (or at least one among two or three). And we also learned a lot about the Paleo, and even were lucky enough to attend the amazing race. I can confirm that all of the author’s descriptions about the secretiveness and the competition between the contrade and the attempts to win even if it means knocking your competitor off of his horse (or worse) are all true. The race, even today, hasn’t changed much since the 1300s.
I found that I enjoyed reading the story that took place in the 1300s more than the contemporary story, and found the back-and-forth rather confusing.
Still in all, I enjoyed the book as an interesting summer read. However, I think I would give the book only about a 5 out of 10.
By the way, I don’t understand why Shakespeare didn’t keep the original Siena setting. Siena is much more interesting than Verona.
Lo, and behold, in today's Denver post, there is an article about this book and about the author. Here is the link: http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_16526482
ReplyDeleteI thought you all might find it interesting.
I didn't originally vote for this book because there have been so many redux of Romeo and Juliet that I thought "yikes -- another one". So, maybe not having expectations about the book helped me enjoy it more.
ReplyDeleteI did read R & J in high school, and I think that's why I liked the 1300s story better than the contemporary story. I was ok plodding through the daytime drama of Julie and Janice and their gansta pop to get to the older story. OK, I confess I read ahead a few chapters and skipped the contemporary story every so often to read about the original Romeo and Juliet.
I think the contemporary characters were more caricatures than the 1300s characters. Maybe it's because I can't envision in 2010 someone (Eva Maria) going to all of that trouble to end a curse. The story in the 1300s did really intrigue me -- I wanted to know if Romeo would really win and if Giulietta would end up married to Salimbeni -- I was thinking she'd murder him in bed if they ended up married.
Umberto annoyed me. So, once we found out he was really papa, I went back and re-read how he interacted with the girls: eating in the kitchen, even when invited to join everyone (even saying no on Thanksgiving), fatherly wisdom like "Who told you life was fair? Not me.", and he obviously favored Julie -- he called her principessa. Well, at least at the end he didn't tell Cocco to go ahead and shoot Janice.
And really, no one would come running when Cocco & Company blasted through the crypt? I've never been to Siena, but I think someone might have come running.
Alessandro didn't bother me as much as he seemed to bother others, and I think Kris is biased because of the Speedo :) I did see a mile away that he was Romeo, and I forgave him for being skeptical and not forthcoming because he was told Giulietta had died.
Overall, I thought this book was OK. There were bits of dialogue that made me laugh, and I do like that in a book.
First off I did not vote for this book and now that I read it I probably would not vote for it...Although I found it to be a fast read and in the beginning of the book I liked the way the story was going, but then everything about it became to unrealistic to me.
ReplyDeleteJulie and Janice can not stand each other and the next thing they are sharing gelato and reading letters in bed together best of buds, I mean seriously. And Umberto, our Dad all these years and oh my he is a gangster..lalala
I actually liked Alessandro and of course he was Romeo, very obvious, I forgot about the Speedos...seriously no one looks good in Speedos..no one..
I believe I read Romeo and Juliet in high school, its been a few years so it could be one of those cloudy areas. I am not a big Shakespeare person, I did see a movie Romeo and Juliet, also when I was in High School.
I have not been to Italy so I can't relate to any of the buildings or the area or anything like that, I did go to Grapestomp in Alexandria, Minnesota, in September, beautiful vinyards and some nice wines:):)
Overall I have to rate the book a 5, started out so intriguing to me and then just lost it, to unrealistic and not enough depth into the characters and the ending of the book just did not do it for me.
I was excited when this book was listed as one of our choices. I had seen a (good) review of the book in People magazine this summer and had it on my list to read. "After inheriting a key to a safety deposit box in Siena, Julie Jacobs plays Shakespearean detective in this charming thriller."
ReplyDeleteI have visited Sienna and therefore enjoyed the setting very much.
I found the contemporary characters annoying and that story very unintriguing. I thought the author's dialogue between contemporary characters very elementary. I enjoyed the 1300's storline much more.
I agree with Darlene & Andrea about the nonsense of Janice and Julie's reconciling so quickly after having been estranged for so long.
Here are some questions I would love to have answered. Who were the guests at Eva Maria's party? Were they ghosts or modern people in costume? Why did Allesandro and Umberta have to keep the fact from Julie that they were being threatened by thugs? And Janice dressed in black and riding the motorcyle, really, why?
I would vote this book a 5. I felt like Andrea did, it kept me reading and I read it quickly. But the premise had so much more potential. I'm very disappointed in the author's writing and would not want to read another book she has written.
I have never studied Shakespeare and Beckie has been teaching him most of her career. We've decided that when we're retired and living in Phoenix, she's going to teach me Shakespeare! I've added that to my bucket list, sis. Any and all living in Phoenix will be welcome to attend!